Various types of heavy and light construction equipment are employed to construct and maintain railroad systems. For example, an excavator is one type of heavy equipment commonly used to dig the trenching for new railroad tracks or perform other construction and maintenance functions in proximity to the railroad tracks.
Many railroad systems have track networks that extend into remote locations far away from other roads or access points. As a result, getting equipment such as an excavator out to these remote locations can be a difficult task. One solution in the past has been to load the desired equipment, e.g. the excavator, onto a rail car and drive the rail car and equipment out to the desired location using a train engine. As can be readily appreciated, the above solution can be a costly, time consuming, and labor intensive way of getting equipment out to a job site.
To avoid the above cost associated with transporting equipment using a rail car and train engine, a more modern solution has emerged wherein the construction equipment itself incorporates a system that allows the vehicle to travel directly on the tracks of the railroad. One such system is commonly referred to as a “high-rail” system. In a typical high-rail system, a pair of steel rail wheels similar to that found on a traditional rail car are attached to a frame of the equipment and can engage the railroad tracks to utilize them as a means of travel.
A typical excavator can include a pair of tracks used to propel the excavator. A high rail system incorporated with the excavator includes two sets of rail wheels with each set having a mechanism to raise and lower the rail wheels relative to the railroad tracks. One set of rail wheels is interposed between the tracks of the excavator proximate to a leading edge of the tracks. The other set of rail wheels is interposed between the tracks of the excavator proximate to a trailing edge of the tracks.
The distance between the inner edges of each of the pair of tracks of the excavator is such that there is not enough room between them to entirely fit the rail wheels and the mechanism associated therewith. As such, at least a portion of the rail wheels and/or the mechanism extends beyond the leading edge or the trailing edge of the tracks of the excavator. When both sets of rail wheels engage the railroad tracks, the excavator's tracks are elevated from the ground so that the excavator can ride upon the railroad tracks using the rail wheels. When both sets of rail wheels are out of engagement with the railroad tracks, the excavator's tracks are in contact with the ground so that the excavator can move thereabout.
Unfortunately, several problems have emerged when using the above high rail systems. With reference to FIG. 14, a typical high rail mechanism 306 extends in front of either end of the tracks of the excavator 302, thereby extending the excavator's 302 overall length. As a consequence, the angle of approach 308 that the excavator can normally overcome is reduced due to the extended overall length of the excavator 302. For example, when the excavator encounters a relatively steep angle of approach 308, the leading set of rail wheels 304, or other portions of the high rail mechanism 306, will hit the angle of approach 308 before the tracks do, and thereby prevent or substantially inhibit further forward motion of the excavator 302.
Second, the excavator's overall length is increased such that the excavator has a larger footprint than an excavator not incorporating a high rail system. As a result, there is an inherent safety risk that an operator not familiar with the larger dimensions of an excavator incorporating a high rail system might strike personnel or other equipment on the ground with rail wheels extending outside and in front of either end of the tracks.
In view of the above, it is desirable to have a high rail excavator that overcomes the mobility and safety issues of current systems.
Embodiments of the invention provide such a high rail excavator. These and other advantages of the invention, as well as additional inventive features, will be apparent from the description of the invention provided herein.